Packaged Terminal Air Conditioners and Heat Pumps Energy Conservation Standard Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), as amended, provides the Department of Energy (DOE) the authority to establish energy conservation standards for certain commercial equipment covered by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) Standard 90.1, including packaged terminal air conditioners (PTACs) and packaged terminal heat pumps (PTHPs). (42 U.S.C. 6313(a)(6)(A)) Section 342(a)(6)(A) provides that DOE may prescribe a standard more stringent than the level in ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1, after ASHRAE amends the energy conservation standards found in ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1, if DOE can demonstrate "by clear and convincing evidence," that such a more stringent standard "would result in significant additional conservation of energy and is technologically feasible and economically justified." (42 U.S.C. 6313(a)(6)(A)(II) At this time, DOE is proposing to amend the energy conservation standards for PTACs and PTHPs by raising the efficiency levels for this equipment to the levels above the efficiency levels specified by ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-1999 in accordance with these criteria and further described in the notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR). The proposed standards would apply to all covered PTACs and PTHPs manufactured on or after the date four years after publication of the final rule in the Federal Register. (42 U.S.C. 6313(a)(6)(D))

The NOPR is the first stage of the overall standards rulemaking process for PTACs and PTHPs and will be followed by a Final Rule. At the NOPR stage, DOE presents the proposed standard levels and all the rulemaking analyses, including the engineering analysis, the life-cycle cost analysis, the national impact analysis, the environmental impact analysis, the utility impact analysis, and the regulatory impact analysis. Stakeholders are invited to review the NOPR documents and the analytical tools, attend the public meetings, and submit comments on the analysis and proposed standard levels.

DOE's comment period for the PTAC and PTHP NOPR stage of the rulemaking analysis is open until 12:00 am EDT on June 7, 2008.

Some of the following documents are available as Adobe Acrobat PDFs. Download Adobe Reader.

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

Comments

All comments submitted must identify the Packaged Terminal Air Conditioner and Heat Pump Rulemaking, the docket number, and regulatory identifier number (RIN).

Energy Conservation Standard Rulemaking for Packaged Terminal Air Conditioners and Heat Pumps: Docket Number EERE-2007-BT-STD-0012 and Regulatory Identifier Number (RIN) 1904-AB44.

Comments may be submitted using any of the following methods:

Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov/. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
E-mail message to address specific rulemaking activity: Energy conservation standard rule: ptac_hp@ee.doe.gov. Please be sure to include the docket number and/or RIN number in the subject line of the message.
Postal Mail:
Mrs. Brenda Edwards
U.S. Department of Energy
Building Technologies Program
1000 Independence Avenue, SW, Mailstop EE-2J
Washington, DC 20585-0121
Please include one signed original.
Hand Delivery or Courier:
Mrs. Brenda Edwards
U.S. Department of Energy
Building Technologies Program
950 L'Enfant Plaza, 6th Floor
Washington, DC 20024
Telephone: (202) 586-2945
Please include one signed original.